Contents

Plot

Cosmic Era 73, in the midst of the second Earth Alliance and ZAFT War, Serpent Tail is hired by Earth Alliance to help out in the Republic of East Asia Forest Preserve number 13, where there is a 3 way conflict between Earth Alliance, ZAFT and guerrillas, who are residents of the area. One of the guerrilla is Trojan Noiret, pilot the MBF-P04 Astray Green Frame, who wants to drive both ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces out of the area.

Characters

Gai Murakumo - Coordinator and leader of the mercenary group Serpent Tail. Although he is a skilled pilot with most machines he comes to favor the MBF-P03 Astray Blue Frame as his personal mobile suit, modifying and upgrading it constantly to better suit his needs. He wears a white standard Earth Alliance uniform. Pilot of the CAT1-XG2/12 Hyperion G Unit 2 and MBF-P03third Astray Blue Frame Third.

Elijah Kiel - Coordinator and Gai's wingman. For a period of time, he was with ZAFT; he has a very handsome look; although he is a Coordinator he does not possess the superior physiology of Coordinator, so his MS maneuvering skills are poor; through the experiences he gained on the battlefield as a mercenary, however, he polished his maneuvering skills, and has improved substantially. On his mobile suit, a "2" is incorporated on its Serpent Tail emblem. Pilot of the ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Elijah Kiel Custom.

Kazahana Adja - 6 years old and highly intelligent daughter of Loretta; because of her background she has adult-like judgement and mental toughness, and she serves as liaison to Serpent Tail's clients. Unknown if she is a Natural or Coordinator.

Loretta Adja - Natural; the only woman among members of Serpent Tail; explosives expert and tactician; mother to Kazahana Aja; very popular among the mercenaries. former member of EA, unknown why she left. Pilot of the Guti.

Reed Wheeler - Natural; captain of Serpent Tail's Laurasia-class frigate; former Earth Alliance intelligence operative and still has contacts with the EA; known alcoholic.

3Socius - A Socius clone and part of EA's Combat Coordinator program. Just like the rest of the Socius, he cannot attack any Naturals, only ZAFT soldiers since Earth Alliance made them not to go against any Naturals. He is the commander of the EA forces in the forest preserve, and pilots CAT1-XG1/12 Hyperion G Unit 1.

Xist Elwes - A half coordinator and half natural send out to help out the EA forces. He works for Fujiyama, a company that assist the Earth Alliance, and pilots a red ZGMF-515 CGUE and later its upgrade form, ZGMF-515AS CGUE Assault.

Alec Lad - Coordinator from PLANT, he became Mobile Suit pilot for ZAFT during the Second War. Assigned to the Republic of East Asia, he pilots an all-white custom painted TMF/A-802W2 Kerberos BuCUE Hound.

Suu - A Combat Coordinator belonging to a private military company employed by ZAFT, he was assigned to the Republic of East Asia, and pilots an all-black custom painted ZGMF-1000 Kerberos ZAKU Warrior.

Guerrilla

Barry Ho - ex-Orb, Natural; former Orb ace pilot and protector of the Orb vessel Kusanagi, pilots a MBF-M1A M1A Astray; a skilled pilot and martial arts master with the nickname "God of Fist" (though he is an atheist, with the word "Godless" painted on his M1A Astray), he is extremely shy with women. Apparently after the Second Battle of Jachin Due he leaves the Kusanagi. He reappears in the Amazon Forest, where he saves Junk Guild personnel Yoon Sefan from Courtney Hieronimus and the ZGMF-X999A ZAKU Trial Type. He later assists the USSA in their fight against the EA forces.

Junk Guild

Kisato Yamabuki - Natural, fellow Junk Tech with Lowe. She accompanys Lowe on his trips and take cares of him.

History

FRAME A01: Mercenaries of the Asian Bloc

Cosmic Era 73, in the midst of the second Earth Alliance and ZAFT War, Serpent Tail is hired by Earth Alliance to help out in the Republic of East Asia Forest Preserve number 13. Gai Murakumo piloting CAT1-XG2/12 Hyperion G Unit 2 battles a group of guerrillas piloting MWF-JG71 Raysta while Three Socius piloting CAT1-XG1/12 Hyperion G Unit 1 uses his lightwave shield to block the guerrillas attacks. Gai tells Socius not to chase the retreating guerrillas as there is an ambush waiting for them. As they withdraw, Trojan Noiret watches from a distance and hopes to battle them another time. Back at the base, Three Socius updates the Serpent Tail on the guerrillas' movement and emphasized that EA wants to defeat the ZAFT force here to bring stability to the area. He believes that the guerrillas have a similar goal, but Kazahana Adja thinks otherwise, she feels that to the guerrillas there is not much difference between the EA and ZAFT, both are armed invaders. Elsewhere, Trojan Noiret spies on the ZAFT base's new commander Leons Graves. Barry Ho later tells Trojan to retreat as they have been spotted by Leons. As Leons notes Trojan and Barry's presence, he expresses his excitement at meeting and battling Gai Murakumo and his Serpent Tail.

FRAME A02: Blue-Frame Third

Leons Graves informs Rudolf Wittgenstein, Alec Lad and the rest of the troop that he will be contacting the Earth Alliance. He will be suggesting to the EA a joint operation to get get rid of the guerrilla forces, and that if the EA refuses, the ZAFT troop will carry out the operation themselves. Rudolf and Alec do not think much of the plan and responded that Socius will never agree to it since he can't attack Naturals, and there is a chance he will attack them to protect the guerrillas. Alec and Rudolf then realize that Leons is actually hoping for the guerrillas to attack the EA forces. Leons piloting UT-1D Civilian Astray DSSD Custom, Rudolf with his custom ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited, Alec with his custom TMF/A-802W2 Kerberos BuCUE Hound, and the rest of ZAFT soldiers waits for the EA force to arrive. On their way, Gai with his Hyperion G Unit 2, Socius in his Hyperion G Unit 1, and Elijah Kiel in his ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Elijah Kiel Custom are ambushed by guerrilla soldiers lead by Trojan and his MBF-P04 Astray Green Frame. Hyperion G Unit 1 is damaged by Green Frame's surprise attack and when Socius suggests a retreat, Gai replies that it will be difficult as ZAFT troops are behind them. The ZAFT troops then start their attack, ZAKU Elijah Kiel Custom gets into a duel with Rudolf's GOUF Ignited while Hyperion G Unit 2 battles Alec's Kerberos BuCUE Hound. While the others are battling, Leons and his Civilian Astray DSSD Custom are lying in wait. Meanwhile, the guerrillas realized that they are being made use of and retreats. Alec's Kerberos BuCUE Hound with its beam blades and Gai's Hyperion G Unit 2 with its beam knives charge toward each other, and end up taking a limb from the other unit. Leons then takes the chance to shoot Gai from the back, badly damaging the Hyperion G Unit 2. The area then suddenly got bombarded and a ball of light appears, distracting Leons and Alec enough for Kazahana to send MBF-P03third Astray Blue Frame Third to Gai.

FRAME A03: Respective Reinforcement

Leons calls Blue Frame Third's appearance a game changer and mulls a withdraw. Rudolf then attacks Gai's Astray Blue Frame Third with his GOUF Ignited, but ends up having his MS's arm sliced off. Alec then goes to Rudolf's side and receives order from Leons to recover Rudolf and retreat. As he leaves, Leons thinks about calling up his company for reinforcement. At the EA base, Kazahana wonders why Gai did not chase after the enemy and destroy them despite having the advantage and after receiving some hints from Reed, she realizes that this is their plan to avoid ZAFT sending reinforcement to the area. Reed later notes that this plan may however be affected by the introduction of Blue Frame Third. Three Socius then tells Serpent Tail that Fujiyama, a company that assist the Earth Alliance, is sending reinforcement to help them battle the ZAFT force and the guerrillas. Elsewhere Xist Elwes, a half coordinator and half natural, and Lukas O'Donnell a coordinator with a bomb surgically implanted in his face and neck, engages in a mock MS battle. Xist pilots a red ZGMF-515 CGUE while Lukas pilots a GAT-X105E Strike E. Both are mercenaries of Fujiyama and are looking forward to their trip to Asia.

FRAME A04: A Change in Battle

On their way to the EA base, Xist and Lukas destroy three ZAKU Warriors patrolling the forest with the CGUE and GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X02 Sword Strike Gundam E respectively. Meanwhile, Trojan spies again on the ZAFT base and Rudolf is furious about putting a regular GOUF Ignited arm on his golden GOUF. Leons later tells the team that his company is sending a dangerous man named Suu as reinforcement, and expresses his worries as Suu has a habit of attacking allies and enemies indiscriminately. He is then informed of the attack on the patrolling ZAKU Warriors and notes that EA force's behavior is different. Trojan spots increased activity in the ZAFT base and summarize that something has happen. At the EA base, Xist and Lukas introduce themselves, Lukas then apologizes for their action after learning of the Serpent Tail's plan. Immediately after, Trojan piloting Green Frame enters the base and argues with Socius about how the battles between EA and ZAFT will burn the forest down. He is also unhappy that the EA has hired Serpent Tail to help their force in the area. Gai then tells Trojan to achieve his goal using his own power and this causes the latter to challenge the former to a MS duel.

FRAME A05: Trojan

Trojan piloting Green Frame battles Gai in his Astray Blue Frame Third, he manages to avoid all of the latter's attacks thanks to Green Frame's combat support AI system. After hints from Reed and Loretta, Elijah and Kazahana realized that the AI system is created by Lowe Guele. The ZAFT base receives news of the duel and Leons feels that they can take advantage of the situation and get rid of the guerrillas and EA force before Suu arrives. He is then informed that transmission from Suu's transport indicates that Suu is on his way to attack a guerrilla's base. Leon is now worried that things may get out of hand if he leaves Suu alone. At the EA base, Gai stops battling and Trojan use the chance to initiate his attack. An overconfident Trojan fell for Gai's fake movement and is defeated, with the heavy blow knocking him unconscious. He later wakes up in a jail cell and refuses the food brought by Loretta and Kazahana. Loretta explains that Serpent Tail also want to protect the area's resident. Kazahana then adds that even though they are mercenaries, they will still consider carefully who is the real enemy. She tells Trojan that she does not consider him an enemy. Meanwhile, the others are arguing over what to do with Trojan and his Green Frame. Gai notes that Green Frame is an important element in this situation and after some consideration, Lukas realized that Green Frame's role is to protect the area's resident, leaving EA free to deal with ZAFT. In his jail cell, Trojan starts to reflect on his actions and learns that Green Frame is given to him to protect people, not to attack others. Elijah then appears and informs him that one of the guerrilla's base is on fire.

FRAME A06: Power Up!

Gai, Xist and Lukas take off to protect the guerrilla's base. Lukas reasons that have no choice as the guerrillas' main fighting strength is now trapped in their base. on the way to their destination, they meet with the ZAFT force and a battle erupts. In the guerrilla's base, Suu badly damages a MWF-JG73 Civilian Astray JG Custom using his custom ZGMF-1000 Kerberos ZAKU Warrior. Barry Ho jumps out of the damaged MS and Suu does the same as well. Suu tells Barry to hand over his fighting techniques and attacks him. After a few blows, Barry decides to go all out against Suu. In the EA base, Trojan requests Socius to let him go to the guerrilla's base but the latter refuses, and reasons that doing so will only bring him harm. Trojan then finally realizes the true meaning of what his master, Barry Ho, previously said to him and is determined to protect others. At that moment, Lowe appears and tells Socius to let Trojan go. He says that Trojan's determination is real and that he has an item that can strengthen Green Frame. At the guerrilla's base, Suu learns Barry's fighting techniques and kills him. Lukas and Gai arrive at the base, the former is shocked that a hand to hand combat is going on. Suu retreats and Gai spots a badly wounded Barry. Elsewhere, a defeated Xist plans to unseal a certain set of equipment so as to defeat Alec. At the ZAFT's base, Leons upgrades his MS into the PMC-1L Arms Astray PMC Custom while at the EA base, Trojan receives the Twin Sword Rifle.

FRAME A07: Heat & Cool

Trojan arrives at the guerrilla's base and holds himself responsible for what has happened and Barry's death. Lukas wants to use this opportunity to turn Trojan into someone that he can manipulate easily but is stop by Gai. A newly determined Trojan then stands up. At the ZAFT base, Leons reprimands Suu for his unauthorized attack, surprising the latter as the order he receives is to kill the enemy. As Leons explains to Suu that fighting is not only about winning, the latter laughs and says that Leons is also enjoying the battle like he is but in a different way. Suu then takes off. At the EA base, Xist equips his CGUE with assault parts and tries to leave despite Socius's objection as he wants to get his revenge. Unexpectedly, Suu turns up and Xist engages in a fight with him. As he watches the battle, Lowe comments that the CGUE's pilot is losing his 'heart' and worries about it. Kazahana also notes that although ZGMF-515AS CGUE Assault is strong, it is also scary. Outside the base, Lukas spots the duel and notes that it is the same Kerberos ZAKU Warrior, he thinks its fate and flies towards the fight. At the ruined guerrilla's base, Gai helps with the recovery work. Trojan thanks him for his help and says that he wants to visit the ZAFT base and have a talk with them.

FRAME A08: Gunfire to signal a new era

The battle between Xist and Suu continues on. Xist slowly falls into a trance-like state. Lowe comments that its as if the CGUE Assault is moving witout a pilot. The CGUE Assault just keep shooting and Suu is forced into defending himself.
Lukas piloting Strike E IWSP then interrupts and wakes Xist from his trance-like state. Xist is glad that Lukas is here, and says that his presence is much better than the assault parts at allowing him to perform to his full potential. Together, they battle Suu and Lukas is impressed that he can handle their combined attacks. Lukas then says that Suu is the one he is looking for and rushes forward. Strike E IWSP contacts the Kerberos ZAKU Warrior, Lukas asks Suu if he wants to fight more freely and adds that Suu's potential power cannot be restrained by anyone. Suu then retreats and Lukas comments that Suu's ability to think fast is his strong point. He then stops Xist from pursuring and says that the latter should try to get the bigger picture first. This causes Xist to wonder what Lukas is planning. Meanwhile Trojan and Gai arrives at the ZAFT base. Trojan expresses his wish to talk to them and Leons start to overanalyse things. Trojan tells him to stop that and says that ZAFT or EA's presence does not matter as long as the villages in the area is safe.
ZAFT suggests that EA also participates in the peace talk with the guerrillas, and thus Xist, Lukas and Socius heads off for the talk. Back at the EA base, Lowe shows and talks to Gai about the GAT-FJ108 Raigo Gundam. Gai is thankfully that the situation now does not require the usage of Raigo.

FRAME A09: Roaring Thunder

Xist piloting his CGUE Assault, Lukas piloting his Strike E IWSP, and Socius piloting his Hyperion G Unit 1 heads towards the meeting place for peace talk with ZAFT and the guerrillas. On the way, they were attacked by Suu and Lukas wonders if this is due to what he said earlier. He thinks that Suu also wants to test his fighting power and thus he engages Suu. During the battle, he warns Suu not to go to the EA base as the defense is strong and because a powerful new MS is there. Upon hearing this, Suu leaves. At the meeting location, Xist, Lukas and Socius meet with Leons and Alec, who are in Arms Astray PMC Custom and Kerberos BuCUE Hound respectively. Socius then protests to Leons about Suu's attack and the latter immediately apologizes, calling it the individual action of a desserter. However, Xist does not believe the explanation and questions if ZAFT is thinking of stabbing them in the back. Xist ignores Leons's refute and fires at Alec, Lukas considers this a good opportunity to destroy the ZAFT forces in the area and disables Socius's Hyperion G. A battle erupts, Xist fights with Alec while Lukas deal with Leons. Alec's sudden intervention in Leons's fight results in his Kerberos BuCUE Hound being sliced in half by Lukas. Leons then damages Lukas's Strike E IWSP in turn. The appearance of Trojan and his Green Frame causes Xist and Lukas to retreat, leaving Socius behind. Meanwhile at the Earth Alliance base, Suu attacks Lowe and steals the Speculum Raigo Gundam. As he is about to escape using the Speculum Raigo, Blue Frame Third appears.

FRAME A10: Fourth Army Established

Trojan questions Leons on how the peace talk turn into a battle, and the latter replies that anything can happen during a war. They then go into battle because of their conflicting ideals on why they are fighting. At the EA base, Blue Frame Third battles with the hijacked Speculum Raigo. Suu manages to corner Gai and when Elijah tries to interfere with his ZAKU Elijah Kiel Custom, Suu fires a barrage of missiles at him. Gai reacts in time and saves Elijah, he then moves to the forest with Suu in pursuit and Elijah follows them. Trojan and Leons continue to fight and argues over why it is so hard to achieve peace and what is war. As Trojan starts to gain the upper hand in the battle and the argument, Socius appears carrying the injured Alec. He tells Trojan not to give up on finding peace, not to give up as they are Naturals and then falls. Back at the EA base, Lowe explains to both Lukas and Xist, who have just return, that the Speculum Raigo was hijacked. Lukas then announces that he will create a fourth army and shoots the surprised Lowe. Lukas tells Xist to load the Raigo's equipment and other usable stuff onto the transport plane, he adds that they are going to become the new faction that will conquer this region. Xist asks about the bomb on his body but Lucas says its disabled long ago and ripped it off. The transport plane set off with Lukas laughing triumphantly. With his fourth army, Lukas attacks the ZAFT base at night and beheads Rudolf's GOUF Ignited using the Speculum Raigo.

FRAME A11: United Front

At the EA base, Serpent Tail, Socius, Trojan, Leons and a bandaged Alec agree that their forces should form a united front against the fourth army. Trojan is then inform by his comrades that the ZAFT base was attacked and taken over by the fourth army. Leons is surprised by the fourth army's fighting strength; Gai and Elijah joins the meeting then and explains that the fourth army is stronger than expected and that they were ambushed by them while chasing Suu. Reed summarizes that the army must be made of desserters and thugs in the region and that they must have been prepared for this for some time. Socius wonders if Lukas plans this right from the beginning. Kazahana then realized the villages are in danger and suggests that Trojan brings the guerrillas to the EA base for better protection. On the way to the EA base, the guerrillas is attacked by Suu. While engaging Suu, Trojan recognize some of the moves as his master's and realized that Suu is the one who killed Barry. Meanwhile, Lukas and Xist is monitoring the situation some distance away in their respective MS, Sumbullet Raigo and CGUE Assault. Lukas then fires a mortar shell at the escaping guerrillas, but it is intercepted by Leons's long range beam shot. Leons fires another shot to prevent Lukas from attacking further and drives him and Xist off. While discussing their next step with Xist, Lukas is attacked by a bandaged up MBF-P02 Astray Red Frame and one of Sumbullet Raigo's cannon barrel is sliced off.

FRAME A12: Mission Complete

Trojan and Suu continues their fighting. Suu confirms that the moves he used is from Barry and commments that he used these interesting skills much better than Barry. Trojan however disagrees, he ducks a killing blow from Suu and manages to flip Suu's mobile suit over onto its back. Meanwhile, Lowe and Xist are in a standoff. Lowe questions if Xist is using himself as a shield while the Sumbullet Raigo gets away. He then says that Lukas is not worthy of Xist's help and that Xist knows this himself, but Xist gets angry and yells that he needs to protect Lukas and does not need to think further. He attacks Lowe, who after his MS's bandages start coming off, flees the scene saying Junkers aren't supposed to fight. Lukas meanwhile switches the Sumbullet striker for Caliburn striker and retreats back to base. Upon his arrival, he is surprised to sees Gai and Elijah waiting there. Leons appears on screen, telling Lukas the operation to capture the ZAFT base is his handiwork. Rudolf also chips in and says his headless GOUF Ignited also played a role. Leon then tells Lukas that there's no where to run and a battle between Lukas and Gai erupts.

In the forest, Kisato Yamabuki patches up Lowe who then suggests that they should move on to their next job. At the base, the battle between Caliburn Raigo and Astray Blue Frame Third continues, Lukas yells that he can only live through battle. But that if he remains a soldier, he'll only be used by others. He then yells out Gai's name telling him that he's a mercenary who fought for others, so why did he choose such a tedious path? Gai states that a mercenary is someone who becomes the sword of a person without power and delivers a deadly blow to Caliburn Raigo. As he dies, Lukas states that he is unable to live that way. Meanwhile, Suu lays on the ground outside of his mobile suit with Trojan standing over him. Suu's eyes close as Trojan talked with him. He says that if everyone in the world followed what his master said, there would be no more battles.